Prerequisites

Before you can build and run Construct, you'll need to install several tools and dependencies. This guide walks you through each one with platform-specific instructions.

Required Tools

Node.js 20+

Why: JavaScript runtime for frontend build tools and scripts.

macOS:

bash

# Using Homebrew (recommended)
brew install node@20

# Or using nvm (Node Version Manager)
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.0/install.sh | bash
nvm install 20

Windows:

bash

# Using Chocolatey
choco install nodejs --version=20.0.0

# Or download from nodejs.org
# https://nodejs.org/en/download/

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

bash

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

Verify:

bash

node --version  # Should be v20.x.x or higher

Bun (Package Manager)

Why: Fast JavaScript package manager and runtime used for building Construct.

macOS & Linux:

bash

curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

Windows:

bash

# Using Powershell
powershell -c "$(curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install.ps1)"

# Or using Scoop
scoop install bun

Verify:

bash

bun --version  # Should be 1.x.x or higher

Rust & Cargo

Why: Required for building the native Tauri 2 desktop shell.

All Platforms:

bash

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

macOS:

bash

# Using Homebrew
brew install rust

Windows:

Download from https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install
Or use scoop install rustup

Verify:

bash

rustc --version  # Should be stable (e.g., rustc 1.75.0)
cargo --version  # Should be 1.75.0 or higher

Go 1.23+

Why: Programming language for the Operator backend (AI engine).

macOS:

bash

# Using Homebrew
brew install go@1.23

# If you have an older version
brew upgrade go

Windows:

bash

# Using Chocolatey
choco install golang --version=1.23.0

# Or download from golang.org
# https://golang.org/dl/

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

bash

# Remove any existing Go installation
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go

# Download and install
wget https://go.dev/dl/go1.23.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.23.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz

# Add to PATH (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin

Verify:

bash

go version  # Should be go version go1.23 or higher

Tauri CLI 2.x

Why: Build tool for compiling the native Tauri 2 application.

All Platforms:

bash

# Install via bun (preferred)
bun install --global @tauri-apps/cli@2

# Or via npm if you prefer
npm install --global @tauri-apps/cli@2

Verify:

bash

tauri --version  # Should be 2.x.x or higher

Recommended Tools

Visual Studio Code

Why: Excellent editor with Vue, Go, and Rust support via extensions.

Download: https://code.visualstudio.com/

Recommended Extensions:

Volar (Maintainer: johnsoncodehk) — Vue 3 support
Go (Maintainer: golang) — Go language support
rust-analyzer (Maintainer: Rust) — Rust language support
Prettier — Code formatter
ESLint — JavaScript linting
Thunder Client or REST Client — API testing

GitHub CLI

Why: Streamlined git workflow, useful for managing issues and PRs.

macOS:

bash

brew install gh

Windows:

bash

choco install gh
# Or download from https://github.com/cli/cli/releases

Linux:

bash

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install gh

# Fedora
sudo dnf install gh

Verify:

bash

gh --version

Platform-Specific Notes

macOS (Primary Platform)

Construct is primarily developed on macOS. All features are fully tested on Intel and Apple Silicon.

Additional Requirements:

Xcode Command Line Tools (may be prompted to install)
bash
```
xcode-select --install
```
macOS 11.0+ recommended

Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3):

All tools above support native Apple Silicon
Ensure you're using native (not Rosetta) versions of Rust and Go
Verify with uname -m (should show arm64, not x86_64)

Windows 10/11

Construct is fully supported on Windows 10/11.

Additional Requirements:

Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 or Visual Studio Community 2022
- Download from https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/
- Include "Desktop development with C++" workload
.NET Framework 4.8+ (usually pre-installed)
WebView2 Runtime (recommended, but can install on-demand)
- Download from https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/webview2/

Path Issues:

Ensure rustc, cargo, go, node, and bun are all in your PATH
Restart terminal/IDE after installing tools

Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+, Fedora 35+)

Construct runs on Linux but is less actively tested than macOS.

Additional Requirements:

Development headers:

bash

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install build-essential libssl-dev pkg-config

# Fedora
sudo dnf install gcc gcc-c++ make openssl-devel pkg-config

GTK 3 development files (for Tauri):

bash

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install libgtk-3-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev libappindicator3-dev

# Fedora
sudo dnf install gtk3-devel webkit2gtk4.0-devel libappindicator-gtk3-devel

Verification Checklist

After installing all tools, run this checklist to ensure everything is ready:

bash

# Check Node.js (should be 20.x or higher)
node --version

# Check Bun (should be 1.x or higher)
bun --version

# Check Rust (should be stable)
rustc --version
cargo --version

# Check Go (should be 1.23 or higher)
go version

# Check Tauri CLI (should be 2.x or higher)
tauri --version

# Optional: Check git
git --version

# Optional: Check GitHub CLI
gh --version

If all commands return version numbers, you're ready to proceed!

Troubleshooting

"Command not found" errors

Solution: Ensure the tool is in your PATH. Try installing again, and restart your terminal.

macOS/Linux:

bash

# Add to ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or shell config
export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"

Rust installation fails

Solution: Make sure you have Xcode Command Line Tools (macOS) or Visual Studio Build Tools (Windows).

bash

# macOS
xcode-select --install

# Windows: Run Visual Studio Community installer and add C++ tools

Go version mismatch

Solution: If you have multiple Go versions, explicitly set the PATH:

bash

# macOS (Homebrew)
export PATH="/usr/local/opt/go@1.23/bin:$PATH"

# Then verify
go version

Bun installation on Windows fails

Solution: Try using Scoop instead:

powershell

scoop install bun

Or use npm as a fallback:

bash

npm install --global @tauri-apps/cli@2

Tauri build fails on Linux

Solution: Ensure all GTK development headers are installed:

bash

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install libgtk-3-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev libappindicator3-dev

# Fedora
sudo dnf install gtk3-devel webkit2gtk4.0-devel libappindicator-gtk3-devel

Next Steps

Once all prerequisites are installed, proceed to Getting Started to clone the repository and launch the development environment.

Prerequisites ​

Required Tools ​

Node.js 20+ ​

Bun (Package Manager) ​

Rust & Cargo ​

Go 1.23+ ​

Tauri CLI 2.x ​

Recommended Tools ​

Visual Studio Code ​

GitHub CLI ​

Platform-Specific Notes ​

macOS (Primary Platform) ​

Windows 10/11 ​

Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+, Fedora 35+) ​

Verification Checklist ​

Troubleshooting ​

"Command not found" errors ​

Rust installation fails ​

Go version mismatch ​

Bun installation on Windows fails ​

Tauri build fails on Linux ​

Next Steps ​

Prerequisites

Required Tools

Node.js 20+

Bun (Package Manager)

Rust & Cargo

Go 1.23+

Tauri CLI 2.x

Recommended Tools

Visual Studio Code

GitHub CLI

Platform-Specific Notes

macOS (Primary Platform)

Windows 10/11

Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+, Fedora 35+)

Verification Checklist

Troubleshooting

"Command not found" errors

Rust installation fails

Go version mismatch

Bun installation on Windows fails

Tauri build fails on Linux

Next Steps